Saturday, December 1, 2007

Chestertown, MD — Washington College is pleased to announce that Dr. Lauren Littlefield, Associate Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Department of Psychology, has won the Maryland Psychology Teacher of the Year Award presented by the Maryland Psychological Association.

"With the 2007 Maryland Psychology Teacher of the Year Award, we recognize a psychologist who has demonstrated excellence, dedication and innovation in teaching undergraduate students in psychology," said Grady Dale Jr., President of the Maryland Psychological Association. "We have had the pleasure of seeing at first hand Dr. Littlefield's excellence in teaching."

Last spring, Dr. Littlefield's thesis students swept top honors for Washington College, winning first and second prizes at the Maryland Psychological Association's 2007 Ocean City Institute. They won for their projects on emotional intelligence in children with reading disorder and on the psychological underpinnings of identity status in college students.

"In fact, the judges had a difficult time," said Dale, "since all her students' presentations were excellent, demonstrating a high level of learning using sophisticated methods of research — an obvious outgrowth of Dr. Littlefield's work, concern and care for them."

Receiving the coveted award "really makes me proud," said Dr. Littlefield, "but I don't attribute it all to myself." When she was presented the award at a ceremony outside Baltimore last month, "I dedicated it to three groups of people," she said. "First, my parents and my husband, who've always been there to support me. Second, I dedicated it to my teaching mentors at Washington College [Dr. George Spilich and Dr. James Siemen]. Third, I dedicated it to my students. I enjoy working with them — we're like a team, and they're a great team to be a part of. They're bright and they challenge me to keep my teaching interesting and contemporary."

Dr. Littlefield herself is a Washington College alumna (Class of 1991); she went on to get her master's and doctoral degrees at Drexel University, and continued with post-doctoral training at the University of Virginia and the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center.

Joining the Washington College faculty in 1998 was like coming home, said Dr. Littlefield. "I was inspired by the quality of education I got here, and I wanted to give back."